Difference between revisions of "User:Bzimmerly"
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(Created page with '05/29/2010 - Bill Zimmerly (aka "WBZ") joined the WikiTI community. Status: WBZ is a retired computer programmer and writer who goes by the nickname of "the Geezer Gadget Geek.…') |
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| − | 05/29/2010 - Bill Zimmerly (aka "WBZ") joined the WikiTI community. | + | '''05/29/2010''' - Bill Zimmerly (aka "WBZ") joined the WikiTI community. |
| − | Status: | + | ''Status:'' |
| − | WBZ is a retired computer programmer and writer who goes by the nickname of "the Geezer Gadget Geek." | + | :WBZ is a retired computer programmer and writer who goes by the nickname of "the Geezer Gadget Geek." |
| − | Brief but relevant history: | + | ''Brief but relevant history:'' |
| − | I've been a computer/calculator fanatic since the early 1970's and own a substantial collection of great machines - TI-89, TI-55, HP-41CV, HP-41CX, HP-71B, HP-50G, HP-12C, HP-11C, and many more. I recently purchased from Amazon a TI-84 Plus Silver-Edition and as of the writing of this posting have not received it yet. | + | :I've been a computer/calculator fanatic since the early 1970's and own a substantial collection of great machines - TI-89, TI-55, HP-41CV, HP-41CX, HP-71B, HP-50G, HP-12C, HP-11C, and many more. I recently purchased from Amazon a TI-84 Plus Silver-Edition and as of the writing of this posting have not received it yet. |
| − | In the early 1980's, I programmed Medical Terminals for EDS in Z80 assembler. I contributed to EDS's custom terminal OS by adding drivers for the AMD 9511 and 9512 co-processors and hooks into DPL (the HLL language used for programming the terminals) to support hardware floating point via those chips. I loved Z80 assembler back then and have longed to work again with such a fun processor. When I found out that the heart of the TI-84 series was the Z80, I placed an order and began studying what the web had to offer for such hardware. | + | :In the early 1980's, I programmed Medical Terminals for EDS in Z80 assembler. I contributed to EDS's custom terminal OS by adding drivers for the AMD 9511 and 9512 co-processors and hooks into DPL (the HLL language used for programming the terminals) to support hardware floating point via those chips. I loved Z80 assembler back then and have longed to work again with such a fun processor. When I found out that the heart of the TI-84 series was the Z80, I placed an order and began studying what the web had to offer for such hardware. |
| − | Plans: | + | ''Plans:'' |
| − | The first task I plan on taking on (when I receive my TI-84) is to port zForth (my version of FORTH) to the calculator such that terminal sessions can run on the calculator from the built-in keyboard/display *AND* on terminal programs like minicom on Linux via the calculator's USB cable. I don't know how long it will take to accomplish this, but who cares (?) after all, I'm retired. ;) It will be freely shared with the community in hopes to generate interest and provide others with a fun tool like this. | + | :The first task I plan on taking on (when I receive my TI-84) is to port zForth (my version of FORTH) to the calculator such that terminal sessions can run on the calculator from the built-in keyboard/display *AND* on terminal programs like minicom on Linux via the calculator's USB cable. I don't know how long it will take to accomplish this, but who cares (?) after all, I'm retired. ;) It will be freely shared with the community in hopes to generate interest and provide others with a fun tool like this. |
Latest revision as of 10:32, 31 May 2010
05/29/2010 - Bill Zimmerly (aka "WBZ") joined the WikiTI community.
Status:
- WBZ is a retired computer programmer and writer who goes by the nickname of "the Geezer Gadget Geek."
Brief but relevant history:
- I've been a computer/calculator fanatic since the early 1970's and own a substantial collection of great machines - TI-89, TI-55, HP-41CV, HP-41CX, HP-71B, HP-50G, HP-12C, HP-11C, and many more. I recently purchased from Amazon a TI-84 Plus Silver-Edition and as of the writing of this posting have not received it yet.
- In the early 1980's, I programmed Medical Terminals for EDS in Z80 assembler. I contributed to EDS's custom terminal OS by adding drivers for the AMD 9511 and 9512 co-processors and hooks into DPL (the HLL language used for programming the terminals) to support hardware floating point via those chips. I loved Z80 assembler back then and have longed to work again with such a fun processor. When I found out that the heart of the TI-84 series was the Z80, I placed an order and began studying what the web had to offer for such hardware.
Plans:
- The first task I plan on taking on (when I receive my TI-84) is to port zForth (my version of FORTH) to the calculator such that terminal sessions can run on the calculator from the built-in keyboard/display *AND* on terminal programs like minicom on Linux via the calculator's USB cable. I don't know how long it will take to accomplish this, but who cares (?) after all, I'm retired. ;) It will be freely shared with the community in hopes to generate interest and provide others with a fun tool like this.
